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() The sheriff of Laramie County, Wyoming, says there’s room at his jail if you decide to break the law.
Those vacant spots could be filled soon as Sheriff Brian Kozak is working out an agreement with the U.S. Marshals Service to detain people who President-elect Donald Trump wants to deport.
“Our jail has 180 inmates, so we can safely go up to 400, but that’s contingent on our staffing level,” Kozak, a Republican, told .
Kozak guided through his empty pod at the jail, saying they have space to help and could currently offer around 200 beds to the incoming Trump administration. The contract they’re negotiating calls for the sheriff’s department to be paid $120 per day for each inmate they house.
They are one of the first departments to request immigration authority for jail deputies so they can determine an inmate’s immigration status and bring federal charges without having to call ICE, Kozak says. It comes as Wyoming lawmakers work to ban sanctuary city policies in their state, saying other states with those policies have attracted gangs like Tren de Aragua.
Wyoming has gone so far as to put up a billboard in Denver to recruit law enforcement applicants, saying, “Work in a community where breaking the law is still illegal.”
Kozak says they currently have six inmates who are in the U.S. illegally and have ICE detainers, meaning they have committed a crime more serious than a misdemeanor and meet the standard to possibly be deported under the Biden administration.
“It’s wrong. I mean, we have a federal system, we have a federal law broken that’s not being enforced, and so we are standing ready to help President Trump and our local senators enforce that law,” he said.
Kozak’s stance is a far cry from what’s happening in Teton and Albany counties. The sheriff in Teton County released several inmates with ICE holds, which prompted the federal agency to ask the county for more transparency when it comes to immigration.
Senator John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told they are working on legislation regarding border security and says that while Teton County doesn’t have an official sanctuary designation, it is operating differently than the other 22 counties. Republican Secretary of State Chuck Gray is pushing legislation once again to ban sanctuary counties and cities in the state of Wyoming.
“That’s what’ll do the job,” Gray told . “You stop the funding, and these guys start following the law.”
The secretary’s stance is in lockstep with the Trump administration in cutting funding to sanctuaries. has reached out to the ACLU for comment on these moves being made in Wyoming.